Harry Potter - The IMAX experience!

So I'm sure everyone is just chomping at the bit waiting to hear a review of Harry Potter at the IMAX theater! :) Here is my take on it: (I don't feel like I'm giving much away if you haven't read the books, but if you're worried about that then don't read this)

It was great seeing it in the IMAX because the sound was amazing and obviously it had a very big screen! They also had the last 20 minutes or so in 3-D! Way cool! I have to be honest it was a little blurry at times, but I thought the 3-D part was a cool addition to the movie. It didn't have anything that was jumping right in front of your face like most 3-D movies, but it changed the depth perception and made the characters on the screen look like they were right there.

As far as the actual movie goes, I thought they did a good job condensing the entire book into a movie (they left a lot out, but they got the main story line well). I thought all the actors did a really good job and it was really entertaining. The time went by so fast I couldn't believe I had been sitting there for over two hours. For some reason, I didn't find Voldemort as scary-looking in this movie. I think the death-eaters (followers of Voldemort) were scarier-looking to me.

There are a lot of interesting scenes in the movie where, to music, they show a lot of snippets of things happening, they do a good job showing what's going on and how things are progressing in a short time. There's so much going on so quickly that you don't have time to get bored. I think the book was darker than this movie is. In the book, Harry is very angry and yells a lot in the first half. They've toned this down in the movie. Harry is definitely frustrated in the movie, but doesn't lose his temper so much.

One curious removal from this movie was Quidditch. There isn't a single reference to it.

The scariest parts I felt were at the very beginning and the end (if you've read the books, you know why). If I had watched it when I was younger, I probably would have been scared from it, but I get scared easily and have learned to close my eyes during those parts (come to think of it, I did close my eyes for a brief moment at the beginning of the movie...). I think it would not be so intense if you were to rent it and had the remote in your hand during a few select scenes (those at the beginning and end). The only other scary thing (more surreal than scary actually) I can think of is that there are epileptic -seizure-inducing sequences where we see into Harry's mind.

I guess I've been focusing a lot on the "scary stuff", but it's really not like that the whole movie. I just wanted to give a review for those who are worried about the PG-13 rating. There is nothing else inappropriate in the movie I noticed (except one brief kissing scene, but I wouldn't call it inappropriate).

Hope this helps if you were wondering whether or not to see the movie (or what to expect)!